Gaius Suetonius Paulinus

Gaius Suetonius Paulinus was the Governor of Roman Britain from 58 to 62 AD, succeeding Quintus Veranius and preceding Publius Petronius Turpilianus. He was responsible for the suppression of the Iceni Revolt under Boudicca, only to be recalled a year later for inadvertently causing further Brythonic revolts with his punitive expeditions.

Biography
Gaius Suetonius Paulinus was born in Pisaurum, Roman Empire (present-day Pesaro, Italy), and he served as Praetor in 40 AD before becoming Governor of Mauretania a year later. He suppressed a Berber revolt and, in 41 AD, became the first Roman general to lead his troops across the Atlas Mountains. In 58 AD, he served as Consul, and he was then sent to Roman Britain to serve as Governor. Paulinus continued his predecessor's campaign to aggressively subdue the Brythonic tribes of Wales, and, in 60 AD, he conquered Anglesey. The Iceni took advantage of his absence and staged a revolt against Roman rule, and the Iceni tortured, raped, and slaughtered the colonists of Camulodunum (Cambridge) and destroyed a Roman legion in the process. Paulinus evacuated the indefensible city of Londinium (London), and the Iceni proceeded to massacre the Roman settlers in both Londinium and Verulamium (St. Albans). Suetonius regrouped with Legio XIV Gemina and Legio XX Valeria Victrix, assembling a force of 10,000 Roman troops to face an Iceni army of 230,000 warriors. In the Battle of Watling Street in 61 AD, Paulinus decisively defeated the Iceni queen Boudicca, and 80,000 Britons and only 400 Romans were killed. Suetonius then reinforced his army with legionaries and auxiliaries from Germania to conduct punitive expeditions against any remaining pockets of Briton resistance, but this only provoked further uprisings, causing Emperor Nero to remove Paulinus from his governorship in 62 AD. In 69 AD, during the Year of Four Emperors, he was loyal to Otho, serving as one of his senior generals and advisors. He defeated Vitellius' army near Cremona, but he decided against pressing the advantage, leading to allegations of treason. When Otho was defeated at Bedriacum and Paulinus captured, he obtained a pardon from Vitellius by claiming that he had deliberately lost the battle for Otho.